Fully Loaded Wedge Salad from The Happy Cookbook

The Happy Cookbook by Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy and his wife, Kathy Doocy, is a beautiful, full-color collection of delicious recipes and stories that inspire comfort and happiness all year long. The cookbook includes never-before-revealed family-favorite recipes along with recipes from friends like musician Kid Rock, professional golfer Greg Norman, and many more! The Happy Cookbook will not only appeal to Steve’s legions of Fox & Friends fans, but to anyone looking for accessible, fun, and delicious food that will inspire great meals for every day and for special occasions. Offering an inside look at the Doocys’ home life—their food, stories, and infectious family spirit—The Happy Cookbook is all-American home cooking at its best: nothing fancy, and everything delicious!

The Happy Cookbook goes on sale October 2. You can pre-order a copy from your favorite bookseller now — or you can pre-order a signed copy from Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or from Steve’s local bookstore, Book Ends. And while you wait, prepare this sneak peek recipe for Steve & Kathy’s favorite wedge salad – the perfect dish for all your end-of-summer barbecues or a back to school meal the kids will love.

Fully Loaded Wedge Salad

Makes 4 servings

Whenever we celebrate with a night out on the town, we always order a wedge salad. But we’ve grown past iceberg lettuce and replaced that green bowling ball with a crisp romaine heart. This version of Grandma’s buttermilk dressing recipe is super simple (and you can even swap out the homemade dressing for a bottle of ranch or blue cheese if you’re rushed for time).

This salad just screams, “Yes, I’m eating cheese and bacon on a salad, What’s it to ya?”

Dressing

1/3 cup mayonnaise (Duke’s is our favorite)

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Salads

2 romaine hearts

12 ounces grape tomatoes, halved

4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled

Chopped chives or green onions (green tops only), for garnish

To make the dressing: In a medium bowl, combine the mayo, sour cream, garlic powder, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Add enough milk to thin it down, then stir in the blue cheese. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Set aside.

To prepare the salads: Wash the romaine hearts and remove any imperfect leaves. You can trim a bit off the stem end for cosmetic reasons, but leave it mostly intact so that it holds the leaves together. Halve each heart lengthwise and place one half on each of four serving plates. Divide the tomatoes among the plates, then pour the dressing over the lettuce. Crumble the bacon on top and garnish with a few chopped chives to serve.